Gas or hydrocarbon burner and furnace



(NoModel.) l

C. H. LAND.

GAS 0R HYDROCARBON BURNER AND FURNAGB. No. 553,993.

Patented Feb. 4, 1896.

AN DREW s GRAHANLPHOTO umawAsHlNGTUN UNiTnn STATES ATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES H. LAND, GF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

GAS GIR HYDROCARBON BURNER AND FURNAQE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 553,993, dated February 4, 1896.

Application filed May 28, 1894. Serial No. 512,633. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES H. LAND, a citizen of the United States, residing at Detroit, county of Wayne, State of Michigan, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Gas or Hydrocarbon Burners and Furnaces and Process; and I declare t-he following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as Will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying dra\vings,which form a part of this specification.

My invention has for its object certain improvements in a gas or hydrocarbon burner and furnace and in the process of securing high degrees of hea-t free from the presence of carbonio oxide; and it consists of the methods and devices hereinafter described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in Which- Figure lis a vertical section showing parts in elevation embodying features of my invention. Fig. 2 is a partial vertical section showing features in elevation, illustrating a modification of my invention. Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3 3, Fig. l.

My method and apparatus for burning these fuels, as herein shown and described, differ thus radically from those employed in the ordinary Bunsen burner, inasmuch as in my invention no excess of air is mixed With the fuel previous to the point of ignition; but the gross amount of airis added after primary ignition has taken place,my improved method depending also upon the very essential feature of focusing the flame and air through a suitable aperture in the diaphragm at the base of the combustion-chamber, in combination with certain other features of my improved burner.

I will now proceed to describe my present invention. Accordingly, A denotes a combustion-chamber provided at its base with a contracted aperture ct, through which the flame is focused. I have shown a muffle A Within the combuStien-chamber and above the aperture; but I do not limit myself to the employment of the muffie, although my invention is especially Well adapted for various kinds of muffle-Work for the use of dentists, jewelers, the.

A2 is any suitable supporting-frame. Sup ported beneath the aperture a is my improved burner, consisting essentially of a pan B, open at the top, as shown, and closed at the base.

B is a feed-inlet pipe communicating with the interior of the pan in any suitable manner.

The device, as shown in Fig. l, is more particularly designed for burning liquid hydrocarbons, in Which case B2 denotes a source of supply or reservoir provided with a faucet b to feed the fuel into a f uunel 1)' upon the feedpipe B.

Within the pan B, I locate a foraminous y collar or screen C, which maybe made of Wiregauze or other suitable material, t'he same being readily adjustable and preferably simply resting by its own gravity upon the base of the pan. I prefer to recess the base A2 of the combustion-chamber, as shown at ct', in such a manner as to more readily direct the iiame into and through the aperture ct.

The pan B is made vertically adjustable beneath the aperture ct in any suitable manner. I prefer, however, to employ the system of levers shown in the drawings for the vertical adjustment of the burner, the adjusting devices or levers consisting of two lever-arms D and DQ having a jointed or pivotal connection at one extremity upon an arm B3 depending from the pan B, the arm B3 being preferably formed With pins or studs Z22, engaged in elongated slots d in the lever-arms D and D. The opposite extremities of the arms D D are jointedly connected With an operating-lever D2, as shown at d', the operating-lever D2 being fulcrumed, as shown at E, upon any suitable support, as upon a bracket A3 upon the supporting-frame A2.

The operating-lever D2 is formed with an arm D2, projecting between the arms D and D', and With an operating-handle D4. By lifting or depressing the handle D4 it will be evident that the arms D D will be correspondingly operated to elevate or lower the pan B perpendicularly in a very simple and ready manner. A screw E maybe employed for the fulcrum of the lever D2, and by turning the thumb-nut E' any suitable tension or friction may readily be given to the lever D2, so as to hold the operating-lever, and consequently the burner, in any given position.

IOO

The device, as illustrated more particularly in Fig. 2, is especially adapted as a gasburner, the construction being essentially the same except that for such use l prefer to construct the pan B with inner supports b5, supporting a foraminous plate F thereupon, for

i spreading the gas admitted through the feedpipe B, which in this case is preferably led int-o the pan below the plate F.

Asbestos or any suitable material (shown at G) may be used in the bottom of the pan B to establish the flame in lighting the burner, where liquid fuel is used, the flame being thus maintained until the surfaces above the pan are sufficiently heated to radiate back and vaporize the fuel. Until the upper regions or surfaces are hot enough to accomplish the vapor-ization of the fuel, the fuel is not in its best condition for perfect combustion. Neither oil nor gas nor any otherfuel can do its work to the greatest efficiency until the radiated heat from above is sufficient to thor oughly vaporize the fuel.

rlhe use of the foraminous collar or screen C has a tendency to prevent the spreading of the flame outside the same and in connection with the other features of the device to draw the llame to a point or focus, the collar tending materially to regulate the current of air passing to the flame so as to draw the flame to a point imitating the point of a blowpipe flame. This collar admits air to the space between the bottom of the combustioncham ber and the vaporizing-plate, the said collar being of such height that a space for the admission of air may be left, upon proper adjustment of the vaporizing-plate and the collar, between the upper edge of the collar and the bottom of the combustion-chamber. The openings through the collar admit air at and above portions of the fuel whereby the draft through the opening in the bottom of the combustion-chamber produces cones of air and fuel within the space below the opening, and the apices of the cones extend through said opening' in the bottom of the combustionchamber.

The foraminous collar is practically a-n airmixer. inasmuch as the base of the pan is closed against the admission of air therethrough, the air must be admitted exteriorly to the ignited flame, and the suction occasioned by the draft draws the air through the foraminous collar in jets into the llame, whereby the air is commingled therewith. The space on the interior of the collar is filled with ignited flame, into which flame the air is drawn through the collar after ignition and mixed with the flame. By this specific form of construction I am enabled to mix the air with the ignited flame in small jets.

lt will thus appear that this device tends to exhaust air on the outside of the flame, in connection with the aperture u, to draw the flame to a point therethrough. The size of the aperture a may be changed for different fuels and uses.

The device serves the same purposes in the use of liquid and gaseous fuels.

The raising and lowering of the pan B are exceedingly important and advantageous. In the consumption of oil, for example, when thc oil is lirst ignited and the combustion-chamber is in a cold condition or state, the i1nper t'ectly-burned fuel gradually heats the chamber thereabove, and in proportion as this phenomenon takes place the radiated heat therefrom causes more rapid combustion by raising the ignition-point of the fuel to a higher degree of temperature, vaporizing the fuel and consequently enabling the operator to supply more air to the flame by lowering the burner. The burner can thus be gradually lowered, in proportion as the temperature rises in the combustionchamber, until the maximum of heat is reached obtainable in the kind of fuel used.

About the recess a I prefer to provide a seat a?, corresponding in form to the upper edge of the pan B of the burner, the burner and seat being so constructed as to fit the one against the other. The recess a', aperture a, and the combustion-chamber form a flue above the burner, the seat a2 forming the base of the flue, and conforming to the shape of the burner provides a means of completely closing the draft through said flue by raising the burner thereagainst, and also a means, in connection with the burner, of regulating the exact amount of air and flame passing into said flue.

The relation of the burner to the combustion-chamber with its contracted aperture at the base over the burner, and means to raise and lower the burner toward and from said The y aperture, are indispensable requisites to secure the results aimed at by the applicant. It is absolutely essential, to secure these resuits, that a burner be employed which mixes the air with the fuel in the manner specified, that the air mixed with the ignited flame should be focused and passed into a combustion-chamber A through an aperture of a certain size, and that a given quantity of air, proportionate to the definite amount of flame, should also be exactly focused through the focus hole or aperture. Ve must have, therefore, to secure the results which my invention is designed and adapted to secure, a focus hole or aperture in the base of a combustion-chamber, through which the flame may be focused, and vertically-adj usting mechanism whereby the burner may be raised and lowered to focus the flame aright, and the burner employed must be of such construction as to enable the air to be mixed with the ignited flame, as through my foraminous cellar.

`By this method and apparatus I am enabled to secure very high degrees of heat without IOO IIO

the presence and injurious effects of carbonio oxide, a very essential condition for many purposesas in burning porcelain and decorating chinaware, for example, where the presence of carbonio oxide discolors and ruins the work. IVhere carbonio oxide is present, it is well known that the carbonio oxide gives up a part of its carbon, which unites with the oxides in the coloring-matter and body of which the ware is composed, thereby injuring the texture of the ware and destroying the coloring thereof. It is for this reason thatI have abandoned the use of the Bunsen and other similar burners, having discovered, as above stated, that it is a producer of large quantities of carbonio oxide, and have devised my present system and apparatus for burning hydrocarbon or other suitable fuels by a suitable supply of air brought into contact with the flame at the point of ignition and focusing the flame by properly-arranged focusing devices.

It is to be observed that the fuel is simply exposed to the atmosphere to establish primary ignition, and then air is supplied in the larger quantity to support secondary ignition after primary ignition has taken place.

The focusing of the flame contemplated by my invention has an equally important relation to my invention as that secured in the use of an ordinary blowpipe, the point of the iame being the oxidizing region of combustion only when the exact amount of airis regulated with a definite amount of fuel, this focusing-burner being just as sensitive in its action as that of an ordinary blowpipe. The raisin g and lowering of the burner are equivalent to securing by a blowpipe either an oxidizing effect or, on the contrary, one of a reducing action. For example, by a certain adjustment of the focus, carbon in the form of ordinary soot may be deposited in the interior of the combustion-chamber, and by a slight 'modication of the focus the carbon may be converted into a dense form of coke', while by still another modication of the focus the coke and carbon maybe entirely consumed and in the act of consumption create a more intense heat, allied to that of a coal or coke fire.

The base of the combustion-chamber may be an integral part thereof or it may be made removable. It is important that the base of the combustion-chamber about the orice a be made thin, as shown, as one of the specific features of my invention is to so expand the combustion-chamber thereabove, and I aim to avoid all possible obstructions to the draft, so that the exhausting power of the chimney will find the least possible resistance in passing through the contracted aperture in the center of the base. When the floor of the Conseother important function of this feature of my device is that a thin diaphragm becomes more quickly heated, for the reason that in proportion as the body of heat concentrated in the combustion-chamber above becomes augmented the heat will be quickly radiated upon the fuel in the pan below, thus causing more rapid vaporization of the fuel.

I will call attention to the fact that a diaphragm as a floor of fire-brick more than an inch thick would not serve the purpose of allowing a sufficient heat to pass therethrough upon the pan to properly vaporize the fuel; also, I have found that acontracted aperture through a thick surface so chills the carbon in the fuel that it will become deposited on the walls of the passage-way and soon effectually clog the draft so that perfect combustion cannot go on. On the contrary I have discovered that the thinner the diaphragm the less the opportunity for carbons to collect about the aperture, for the reason that the exhausting power of the chimneydraft being concentrated on the thin edge of the diaphragm has a tendency to force the carbon off. Moreover, a very thin non-conducting diaphragm soon becomes incandescent atl the edge exposed to the flame. Consequently the carbon cannot become sufficiently chilled to collect, as it would on thick -non conducting surfaces.

Vhat I claim as my invention is 1. The combination with a combustionchamber having an aperture leading thereinto, of a burner located therebeneath consisting of an open pan, a feed-pipe leading thereinto, levers D, D', connected with said pan, and an operating-lever D2 engaged with the levers D, D', for raising and lowering said pan, substantially as set forth.

2. A burner having` in combination a pan B, lever-arms D, D connected with said pan, and an operating-lever D2 constructed with arms D3, D4, for raising and lowering the pan perpendicularly, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination with a combustionchamber having a small opening in its bottom, of a vertically-adjustable vaporizingplate situated below said opening, a feed-pipe for delivering liquid fuel to said plate, and an upwardly-projecting perforated collar arranged at the margin of the plate and adapted to admit air to the space between the bottom IOO IIO

of the combustion-chamber and the vaporizing-plate, substantially as described.

4. The combination with a combustionchamber having a small opening i'n its bottom, of a vertically-adj ustable vaporizingplate situated below said opening, afeed-pipe for delivering liquid fuel to said plate, and an upwardly-projecting perforated collar arranged at the margin of the plate and adapted to admit air to the space between the bottom of the combustion-chamber and the Vaporizing-plate, the said collar being of such height that a space for the admission of air may be left, upon proper adjustment of the Vaporizing-plate and the collar, between the upper edge of the collar and the bottom of the combustion-chamber, substantially as described.

5. The combination of a combustion-chamber having a small opening in its bottom and a vertcally-adjustable fluid-burner situated below said opening, the apparatus formed by the aforesaid elements being` provided with openings for the admission of air at and above portions of the fuel, whereby the draft through the opening` in the eombustion-chamber will produce cones of air and fuel Within the space below the said opening, substantially as described.

(5. The combination with a combustionchamber having a small opening in its bottom, of a burner situated below said opening, means for supplying a combustible fluid to said burner, means for admitting air at the sides of said burner to mix with said fluid, and a further and adjustable means for supplying air above the said fluid wherebT concs of combustible fluid and air are produced at the burner with their apices extending through the opening of the combustion-chamber, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I sign this specification in the presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES Il. LAND. lNitnesses:

N. S. WRIGHT, M. A. MARTIN. 

